Hebrews 2:10-16

Please take with me your Bible and turn to Hebrews chapter 2.

Hebrews 2 · chapter mention

! Yes, actually, Hebrews chapter 2.

Hebrews 2 · chapter mention

If you're a guest this morning, you have no idea what I'm talking about.

! I've been purposing to preach this for the past two weeks,

and I've made last-minute changes of plan both of those weeks,

and so that's why I'm jesting a bit here.

We have, however, talked some in the past weeks about suffering,

and we're going to pick up the topic again this morning.

I'd first like to remind you that the way of the Christian is the way of suffering.

Jesus said in John chapter 15 and verse 20,

John 15 · chapter mention

Remember the word that I said to you.

A servant is not greater than his master.

If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

There will be people who have an aversion from the word of Christ,

and they will not like us for sharing it with them.

Also, Paul stated in 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 12,

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

You should become familiar with this.

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

And this is not a necessary call to world mission in dangerous places,

although it's a comfort to those going to such places.

This speaks to us here and today.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has kind of become the darling of the Democratic Party.

This is not political commentary I'm about to do.

She's commonly referred to as AOC, which I actually think is kind of cool.

She was recently elected Democrat from New York.

She's very young in Congress.

And in her campaign, she repeatedly criticized luxury real estate developers,

claiming that their buildings hiked up rent prices

and pushed low-income residents out of their neighborhoods.

And this is true.

Certainly, gentrification is a thing, and it happens,

and it should be carefully considered and looked at.

She says, and I quote,

We need to kick luxury real estate lobbyists to the curb

and defend working people's way of life.

She said this in March of 2018.

She goes on to say,

Skyrocketing cost of living is a national crisis that can be addressed.

It's not just a New York City issue.

It's happening in every U.S. metro area.

And this was a large platform that found her elected.

So she's now serving in Congress.

She's moved to Washington, D.C.,

and she's living in a brand-new luxury apartment.

In fact, it's a luxury apartment with security

that won't let poor people inside.

Now, we could find inconsistencies anywhere we would look.

So again, I'm not simply picking on her

for the sake of picking on the Democratic Party.

I'm not sharing this example with you

to make some kind of political point,

but only to show you

that our lives must be consistent with our messaging

to be found credible.

Who cares what she has to say

about luxury apartment development anymore?

If we say that we are followers of Jesus Christ

and our Lord suffered and died,

don't we appear uncredible

if our lives are lived in comfort and in ease?

Recall what Paul wrote to the believers in Colossae

in Colossians 1 and verse 24.

He said,

Paul here is happy.

He's rejoicing because for the sake of the church,

he is putting on display the suffering of Christ.

Christ certainly suffered.

We read about him as the suffering servant.

We can learn from the Scripture

that he had nowhere to lay his head,

that he was hated in his hometown.

We often think of him as rejected in his hometown.

They actually tried to kill him.

They tried to throw him off a cliff in his hometown.

At one point, his mother and brothers

thought he was a lunatic.

Thankfully, I didn't see it that way to the end,

but they at one point thought he had lost his mind.

Jesus suffered just with the state of the world.

He was deeply grieved by the brokenness

that he saw all around him.

You remember at the death of Lazarus

when he's told of what happened

and he's asked to come and raise Lazarus

and we know he does, he weeps.

The shortest verse in the Bible.

John 11, verse 35.

John 11:35

Jesus wept.

You can memorize that one.

I hope you already have.

Jesus wept.

The one who held power.

He had already done miraculous things

over the wind and the waves,

over illness, certainly over death.

He knew that he could go

and speak Lazarus back to life.

Why did he cry?

Why did he not just go,

it's cool, I got this,

and go raise him from the dead?

I think it's right to understand that he cried

because he saw his friends crying.

He saw what sin was doing in the world.

The kind of grief that it was bringing about.

And so he was weeping with those

who were weeping.

Another example of this

is found in Luke 19, verse 41.

Luke 19:41

It's the week we find ourselves in celebrating,

looking towards Resurrection Sunday.

Jesus journeying to Jerusalem.

Luke 19, verse 41 says,

Luke 19:41

And when he drew near and saw the city,

he wept over it.

And the text goes on to tell us why,

very specifically why.

It's because they did not,

and he knew they would not believe

that he was the Christ.

And he knew the judgment

that was coming upon them.

He knew about the Roman army

that was going to march on that city

and lay it to waste.

And he was grieved

that they didn't see the way of peace,

Luke 19 tells us.

That they wouldn't come to him

to have peace,

ultimate peace with God.

And then we know,

and then this week,

as we look towards Resurrection Sunday,

that Jesus was mocked.

He was beaten beyond recognition.

And he was finally killed

in the most gruesome way

ever invented by man.

Jesus suffered.

And beloved, he is our Lord.

Why do we think ourselves better than him?

We are meant to display

the suffering of Christ

in our suffering.

We are meant to bear the same discomfort

with this broken world.

If you have a proper biblical view

of the world,

all of the messiness that you see

goes back to the garden.

It all harkens back to that

at the beginning of death in the world.

It ought to break our hearts

when we see brokenness.

It ought to leave us longing

for a restored kingdom.

I'm grateful this day

that with no direction from myself

that Reese led us in a song of lament.

How long?

You read through the book of Psalms,

over a third of the songs given to us,

God's people to sing together,

over a third of them

are songs of lament,

crying out to God

and asking really honest

and painful questions.

Did any of you feel uncomfortable

singing a song?

It says,

how long?

And then we go,

but we should know the answer to this.

We should go quickly

to an anthem song.

I'm afraid that the American church

has removed the suffering

of the Christian life

and therefore also gives us

no room for lament

in our meetings together.

We've forgotten how to sing songs

in a minor key.

To come together to say,

there's this disconnect

in how I knew God is

and the way He's working in the world

and my experience today.

I'm in pain

and I'm hurting

and I'm longing for something else.

We don't have language for this

because we've removed suffering

from the life,

the normative life

of the Christian.

So when people are suffering,

they stay home.

You're welcome to be honest with me

on a Sunday morning.

If I say,

how are you doing?

You are allowed to say,

not good.

I probably won't be able

to get into the details

of that with you in the moment,

but you know what I will say?

Well, then I'm glad you're here.

It's the place we come

to be reminded,

to ask the question,

how long?

And then to be able to say,

soon.

We know it's coming soon.

We're supposed to long

for that restored kingdom.

We're supposed to suffer insult,

loss of relationship,

and yes,

even personal harm

for the sake of making

the suffering of Christ known.

Paul says that our afflictions

are Jesus' afflictions.

So let's look together

at Hebrews chapter 2.

Hebrews 2 · chapter mention

I'm going to start in verse 10,

and we'll look through verse 16,

and then,

Lord willing,

verse 17 and 18

next Sunday.

Before I read it,

beloved,

let me remind you

that this is God's word to us,

written for His glory

and our good.

Our good,

our benefit.

We would all do well

to listen to it

in order to believe

its promises

and obey its commands.

Speaking here of Jesus Christ,

for it was fitting

that He,

for whom and by whom

all things exist,

in bringing many sons to glory,

should make the founder

of their salvation

perfect through suffering.

For He who sanctifies

and those who are sanctified

all have one source.

That is why He is not ashamed

to call them brothers,

saying,

I will tell of your name

to my brothers.

In the midst of the congregation,

I will sing your praise.

And again,

I will put my trust in Him.

And again,

behold,

I and the children

God has given me.

Since therefore the children

share in flesh and blood,

He Himself likewise

partook of the same things,

that through death

He might destroy the one

who has the power of death,

that is,

the devil,

and deliver all those

who through fear of death

were subject to lifelong slavery.

For surely it is not

the angels that He helps,

but He helps the offspring

of Abraham.

Now,

when you come to a text like this

and think,

as I have done over the past weeks,

this language is so complex,

you will do well

to join me in remembering

that the book of Hebrews

contains the most eloquent

of all New Testament Greek.

And none of us

are Greek speakers.

In fact,

we are a people

who are communicating

in shorter and shorter forms.

Some of you text me

deep questions.

We are now sharing video blitz

with each other

to communicate.

We've even reduced

much of our communication

to tiny pictures.

And just so you know,

when you tag emojis on stuff,

my eyes are too bad

to even see what the faces are.

I have no idea

what you're saying

to me.

We're like going back

to hieroglyphics.

It's interesting.

So,

we should not be surprised

that we have some work

to do

to rightly understand

what God would have us learn

from these precious verses.

We've got to put in

a little work

to wrap our minds

around what's being

communicated here.

And so,

to help us do that

this morning,

I'm going to frame

that work

around three points.

Number one,

the reality

of solidarity

with Jesus.

Number two,

the nature

of solidarity

with Jesus.

And number three,

the deliverance

of solidarity

with Jesus.

Before we consider

any of those specifics,

what do I mean

by solidarity?

Solidarity

is a unity

or agreement

of feeling

or action.

You'll see

sometimes

in a movie,

maybe,

you know somebody

who's had a cancer diagnosis

and in the process

of chemotherapy,

they begin to lose

their hair.

And so,

people in solidarity

with that person

will shave their heads

and cut their hair

off so very short

to say,

I'm with you.

I'm joining you

in this

in the way

that I can.

This is what we mean

by solidarity.

To say that we have

solidarity with Jesus

is to say

that He is in us

and that we are

in Him.

He is shared

in our experience

and therefore

brings us

into sharing

in His experience.

We're unified

with Christ.

This is an astounding

reality.

It is a thing

that we are going

to amuse about

for our entire lives

and I'm fairly convinced

for eternity

to consider

this union

with Christ,

our solidarity

with Him.

And as we take up

a study of the suffering

of the church,

it gives us opportunity

for careful application

today.

So let's do so together.

Number one,

the reality

of solidarity

with Jesus.

We have solidarity

with Christ

if we are in fact

in Him.

If we have placed

believing faith

in Him.

And we see this

in verse 10

and in verse 11.

Verse 10 says

a rather astounding thing

for it was fitting.

For it was fitting.

So it begs the question,

what is He referring to?

It was fitting

for whom

and by whom

all things exist.

To understand that,

we need to back up

a little bit

in the chapter.

Beginning in verse 5.

The writer of Hebrews says,

For it was not to angels

that God subjected

the world to come

of which we are speaking.

It has been testified

somewhere,

what is man

that you are mindful of him

or the son of man

that you care for him?

You made him

for a little while

lower than the angels.

You have crowned him

with glory

and honor,

putting everything

in subjection

under his feet.

Now in putting

everything in subjection

to him,

Christ,

he left nothing

outside his control.

At present,

we do not yet see

everything in subjection

to him,

but we see him

for a little while

was made lower

than the angels,

namely Jesus,

crowned with glory

and honor

because of the suffering

of death,

so that by the grace

of God

he might taste death

for everyone.

So it's this idea

that because Jesus suffered,

he has been exalted.

He is now crowned

with glory

and with honor.

The writer of Hebrews

is making the case

that he's more excellent

than angels up to this point

and this is kind of

the period he puts

on that, right?

He was made for a little while

lower than angels,

human,

so that he would be

exalted as

the Christ.

And it's from this idea

that the author says

for,

it was fitting.

It gives us this repetition

of this idea

for whom

and by whom

all things

exist.

Christ created the world

and the world exists

to serve

him.

And we see

in the way

he does that

is in bringing

many sons

to glory.

Now ladies,

I think we can rightly

say here,

sons and daughters,

the Bible uses

this language

to carry the weight

of inheritance.

So it's okay

to be a son

in Christ,

right?

To inherit

all that is yours

in him.

So it was the

purpose of Christ

as he's made

a little lower

than the angels,

right?

That he would suffer

so that he would be

crowned with glory

and he would bring

many to

glory.

And I hope

this morning

that you're a recipient

of that work

on your behalf.

That you have placed

believing faith

in Christ

that we could

say of you,

son of the

most high,

of the exalted

one.

The author

then goes on

this very

fascinating phrase

that in bringing

many sons

to glory

that he would

be made

the founder

of their salvation

perfect

through

suffering.

Now this idea

of Christ

being the founder

of our salvation

and you could

also put

in this place

the word

pioneer

or captain.

Think forerunner,

the one who's

out in front

and leading

the triumphal

procession.

Recall that the

original audience

of this book

is a storm-tossed

little church.

We see many

examples of that

throughout the text.

We know a little

bit about this

fellowship.

They had been

persecuted.

They were

suffering for

their faith

and they were

being tempted

to go back

to Judaism.

They were being

tempted to

forsake Christ

which is why

this pastoral

letter comes to

them to say

no.

He's better

than.

He's greater

than.

Don't leave

him.

And so

they're suffering.

And it's to

this group

that this author

writes.

This wonderful

thing that he

would be made

the founder

of their

salvation

perfect

through

suffering.

They had

suffered

and they

would suffer.

It's likely

to the point

of death.

The writer

says in

Hebrews 12

Hebrews 12:4

verse 4

in your

struggle

against sin

you have

not yet

resisted

to the

point

of shedding

your blood.

at the very

least implies

that they

would

someday

do that

very thing.

And they're

tempted to

believe that

the suffering

of Christ

was incompatible

with the

Christian belief

that he is

the sovereign

creator

of the

universe.

That the

one who is

crowned with

glory would

come to

suffer

and to

die.

They're

tempted to

go back to

the common

Jewish

understanding

that the

Messiah would

be a

conquering

king

in the

earthly

sense.

That he

would come

and he

would ride

on a

stallion

and lead

a grand

army

and drive

out

the

Romans.

And this

is not

the way

the kingdom

comes to

pass.

The writer

of Hebrews

speaks to

them and

to us

at this

point of

temptation

by

effectively

saying

stay on

the boat.

storm

toss

church

stay on

the boat

because

Jesus

is its

captain.

He is

the founder

of our

salvation.

The captain

of our

salvation.

And we

are safe

on the

boat.

And this

Jesus,

this founder

of our

salvation

was made

perfect

through

suffering.

And I

think there's

a dual

meaning here.

we know

that Jesus

was always

perfect.

So it

wasn't that

he was

corrupted

and had

to be

made

perfect,

but that

he did

in fact

grow in

his

faithfulness.

And he

did so

through

suffering.

He was

obedient

even to

the point

of

death.

But I

think the

larger

meaning,

and I

think the

more

important

meaning,

is that

this word

here

translated

perfect

could also

be

translated

consecrated.

It's a

way of

saying

set apart.

He was

set apart

to be

the

founder,

the

captain

of our

salvation

through

suffering.

It was

the way

in which

that he

was set

apart.

So that

he would

share

in our

suffering.

Those of

us living

in this

fallen

world

that will

suffer,

Christ

in every

way and

in higher

order

experienced

the very

same

thing.

He's

not

unable

to

sympathize

with

us

because

he

also

suffered.

And so

he can

be

then

the

captain

of our

salvation.

And then

verse 11

says,

for he

who

sanctifies

sets

apart

and

perfects

those

being

saved

and

those

who

are

sanctified

all

have

one

source.

And

here

it's

believed

that the

writer of

Hebrews

is

referring

to

the

humanity

of

these

believers

and

ours

and

the

humanity

of

Christ.

I'll

let you

wrestle

with that

one a

bit on

your

own

and

I'll

save

you

my

complicated

thought

process

on

it.

It's

believed

that's

what's

being

said

because

in

the

rest

of

verse

11

the

author

goes

on

to

say

that

is

why

he

is

not

ashamed

to

call

them

brothers.

He

is

unified

with

us

in

our

humanity.

And

what an

astounding

thing

that we

are

called

brothers.

He's

not ashamed

and the

positive

of that

is to

say

that

Christ

rejoices

to give

us

family

designation.

So if

you are

in

Christ

then

Christ

is

in

you

and

there's

a

reality

of

this

solidarity

that

you

have

with

Jesus

the

suffering

servant.

This

should

be

massively

encouraging

to us

that the

Catholic

of our

salvation

also

suffered

and

sympathizes

with us

in our

suffering.

Secondly

let's

look at

the

nature

of our

solidarity

with

Jesus.

And

there's

three

sub

points

at

this

point.

Intimacy

dependence

and

confidence.

The

nature

of

our

solidarity.

And

we see

this

in

these

three

Old

Testament

quotations.

I

don't

know

the

exact

nature

of

when

Jesus

said

these

things

but

I

believe

it's

right

to

say

that

he

said

these

things.

Some

commentators

have

suggested

that

the

writer

of

Hebrews

is

saying

because

the

Old

Testament

was

inspired

by

the

Spirit

often

referred

to

as

the

Spirit

of

Christ

this

was

Jesus

as

he

said

it

then

I

would

like

to

suggest

I

think

it's

more

probable

that

Jesus

said

it

during

his

ministry

and

that

the

author

of

Hebrews

had

either

first

hand

heard

this

or

he

had

heard

it

told

that

Jesus

said

these

things

either

during

his

pre-death

ministry

or his

post-resurrection

ministry

that he

cited

the

Old

Testament

in

this

way

so

I

think

it's

right

to

look

at

it

in

that

way

and

the

first

thing

the

author

of

Hebrews

says

Jesus

said

I

will

tell

of

your

name

to

my

brothers

in

the

midst

of

the

congregation

I

will

sing

your

praise

and

here

he

is

quoting

from

Psalm

Psalms 22 · chapter mention

chapter

22

and

verse

22

let

me

invite

you

to

keep

a

marker

your

finger

something

piece

of

paper

on

Hebrews

Hebrews 2 · chapter mention

chapter

2

and

turn

with

me

to

Psalm

Psalms 22 · chapter mention

chapter

22

Jesus

takes

this

up

as

his

declaration

Jesus

says

I

Jesus

will

tell

of

God's

name

to

his

brothers

so

those

who

are

not

in

Christ

who

don't

share

this

intimacy

solidarity

with

Jesus

can

know

some

things

about

God

can

see

his

character

revealed

in

nature

but

can't

know

him

here

Jesus

says

he

will

speak

of

God

to

his

brothers

to

those

who

are

part

of

his

family

and

in

the

midst

of

the

congregation

those

who

are

called

together

by

Christ

the

church

he

will

sing

the

praise

!

of

God

this

is

all

incredibly

astounding

John

Calvin said

of this

text

this

teaching

is the

very

strongest

encouragement

to us

to bring

yet more

fervent

zeal

to the

praise

of God

when we

hear

that

Christ

leads

our

praise

and is

the

chief

conductor

of our

hymns

he's the

great

song

leader

as we

sing

songs

of

praise

to our

God

so we

get to

know

God

and

intimacy

with

the

king

of

all

the

world

because

of

the

work

that

Christ

has

done

and

us

being

found

in

him

now

we

are

often

far

too

unfamiliar

with

our

old

testament

and

so

I

would

like

to

believe

that

the

readers

the

original

readers

of

this

letter

immediately

went

on

to

think

about

the

rest

of

psalm

22

the

author

says

he

said

I

will

tell

of

your

name

to

my

brothers

in

the

congregation

I

will

sing

your

praise

and

the

song

kicks

off

in

their

head

many

of

us

do

that

think

in

songs

so you

give

a line

and

somebody

can

just

complete

it

for

you

I

would

imagine

that

they

were

doing

this

very

thing

so

look

at

verse

22

and

23

and

24

I

will

tell of

your

name

to

my

brothers

in

the

midst

of

the

congregation

I

will

praise

you

verse

23

you

who

fear

the

Lord

praise

him

all

you

offspring

of

Jacob

glorify

him

and

stand

in

awe

of

him

all

you

offspring

of

Israel

verse

24

for

he

has

not

despised

or

abhorred

the

affliction

of

the

affliction

and

he

has

not

hidden

his

face

from

him

but

he

has

heard

when

he

cried

to

him

so

in

the

midst

of

suffering

we

have

the

solidarity

with

Christ

in

our

intimacy

with

God

and

the

psalm

goes

on

to

say

he

has

not

turned

away

he

is

there

he

has

not

hidden

his

face

he

is

present

we

maintain

this

intimacy

in

the

midst

of

our

suffering

second

there's

a

solidarity

of

dependence

the

next

Old

Testament

quotation

found in

Hebrews

Hebrews 2 · chapter mention

chapter

2

and

again

this

is

verse

13

I

will

put

my

trust

in

him

the

second

quotation

is

from

Isaiah

Isaiah 8 · chapter mention

chapter

8

the

very

last

part

of

verse

17

it

might

benefit

you

to

be

there

you

don't

have

to

be

but

if

you'd

like

to

turn

to

Isaiah

Isaiah 8 · chapter mention

chapter

8

it

could

be

a

help

to

you

Isaiah

Isaiah 8 · chapter mention

chapter

8

is

a

rich

messianic

chapter

speaking

of

Christ

and

it's

placed

between

chapter

7

where

we

read

of

the

prophecy

of

the

Christ's

birth

Isaiah

Isaiah 7:14

chapter

7

verse

14

will

give

you

a

sign

behold

the

virgin

shall

conceive

and

bear

a

son

and

shall

call

his

name

Emmanuel

and

it's

bookended

by

chapter

9

where

we

learn

of

Christ's

names

these

things

are

likely

familiar

to

you

Isaiah

Isaiah 9:6

chapter

9

verse

6

for

to

us

a

child

is

born

to

us

a

son

is

given

and

the

government

shall

be

upon

his

shoulders

and

his

name

shall

be

called

wonderful

counselor

prince

of

peace

so

just

imagine

right

beleaguered

small

Hellenistic

Jewish

church

right

they've

got

these

scriptures

which

are

precious

to

them

and

the

writer

of

Hebrews

says

Jesus

quotes

from

Isaiah

Isaiah 8 · chapter mention

chapter

8

this is

where

their

mind

goes

whoa

messianic

stuff

is

happening

in

Isaiah

7

8

and

in

to

9

but

interestingly

chapter

8

is

packed

full

of

messianic

language

and

it's

quoted

heavily

in

the

new

testament

to

speak

of

Jesus

Matthew

first

Peter

Romans

are

common

places

for

this

but

verse

17

does

not

specifically

refer

to

Christ

it's

a really

interesting

place

for

Jesus

to

quote

from

at

this

point

in

chapter

8

Isaiah's

prophecy

has

not

been